Laughter
The history of the church is the struggle for its purity, infallibility, and verity. Humour and satire could not be outsiders in that struggle. During the Middle Ages caricature was not widely spread, "a derider" of church was a carnival. The scholars and students were the authors and pioneers of so-called "saint parodies", they chose the archbishop of blockheads, and during the ceremony ridiculed the official service and sermons. Recognizing "the second stupid nature of a person", the clergy allowed laughter and jokes quite widely.

In late medieval times caricature could be observed in pieces of grotesque sculpture - fantastic human figures, devils, animals, monsters,- and also in illustrations of some manuscripts. Secular clergy opposed regular priesthood. One of the way of this opposition was caricature; one of it shows a monk-fox sermonizing before hens and ducks. At the same time, small figures of stupid archbishops, awarded with jester's rod, were carved on the church and altar seats. In Berne's cathedral on one stained-glass panel, devils "throw into the devil's mill" the Pope, cardinals and archbishops, instead of them dragons, snakes, and other evil spirits creep out.

Some "church" caricatures date back to the years of Renaissance. During Restoration caricature became the "weapon" of the Pope, as well as the Luther's fellow-fighters. Those drawings printed on leaflets were rude, and sometimes erotic. There were a lot of reasons for criticizing clergy, who could have thought of Joanna ....

Almost all great artists (A. Durer, W. Hogarth, O. Daumier) were merciless towards church and clergy. H. Bosch painted a demon-priest in his picture "St. Anthony Temptation". In one of P. Bruegel's pictures a monk attached a carnival beard to God himself. F. Goya was especially merciless towards monks, he depicted them as gluttons and blockheads. Evil, hypocritical, and dull faces of Goya's characters bring horror. The painter's irony is outrageous and bitter (a series "Hot" and others).

Beginning with the XVIIIth century more and more erotic caricatures appeared (see "Monk's Burdens" by M. Groiber). This subject was a burning one in the times of the Great French Revolution (e.g. "Monks and Nuns", "Our Kind-Hearted Cure" by N. d'Fronda; one of the Molok's caricatures shows two girls quarreling for the right to sleep with a praying monk). In those stormy years the churches were robbed very often, and parodies of religious processions were popular: at the head of those processions were donkeys in bishops' mitres.

Atheistic traditions were rich in France. Remember "Pocket Bible" by

P. Golbach and "a rebel" L. Taksil-a hoaxer, the author of "Funny Bible" and "Saint Fans of Pornography".

In England of the XVIIth century there was a fancy club of atheists, its rules approved satirical blasphemy. Also, anti-church caricatures were published ( "How Bishops would like to deal with Owen", 1840s), they were like the challenge to conservatism, or the clergy aggressiveness.

In the XXth century the artists continue attacks on church. The subjects of caricatures are various: church and war, church and school, church and culture. In 1928 the album of G. Gross illustrations of "Soldier Sweik" was confiscated for the picture "Jesus with gas-mask", and the artist was accused of blasphemy and brought to trial. In 1950s J. Effel began his "Creation". It contains five thousand drawings. H.Bidstrup also touched this topic in his works.
 


1. Monk-Fox. A drawing of
sculpture. (Nantwich).
XIIIth century.


2. Caricature of Papacy.
Germany. 1545.


4. Pope's Donkey in Rome.
XVIth century.


5. F. Goya. It stinks after
Witchcraft. Caricature of
Pope Pius VII.


6. Church and School. "Simplitsissimus" . Early the
XXth century.


7. G. Gross. Jesus in Gas-mask. 1927.


8. J. Effel. Perhaps, I will lend
my soul.


9. J. Effel. Comets.- Stars with Tails. Wrecking.


10. A. Chechot.



By Dmitry Moskin
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